This invention relates to a wrist rest assembly, and more specifically, to a lightweight, inexpensive and portable wrist rest assembly for use adjacent a device operated by a person's hands or fingers, such as a computer keyboard, lap-top or portable computer, computer mouse or other input device.
The growing use of computers and their associated input devices has led to a tremendous increase in Repetitive Stress Injuries among computer users. Examples of Repetitive Stress Injuries include aching hands, shoulders and neck, and particularly disorders relating to the wrists and hands, with the most common disorder being Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is characterized by soreness, tenderness and weakness of the muscles of the thumb resulting from pressure on the median nerve at the point at which it goes through the carpal tunnel of the wrist. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome may result from long periods of repetitive motion with the hands and fingers, such as from manipulating a computer keyboard, lap-top or portable computer, computer mouse or other input device.
As the general public has become more aware of the dangers of Repetitive Stress Injuries, the demand for products that help to alleviate these disorders has grown rapidly. Thus, numerous arrangements have been proposed for supporting the hands and wrists while they are used to manipulate computer input devices, and for absorbing the vibrations which result from using such computer input devices. Such arrangements include vibration absorbing structures for supporting keyboards and the like, and cushioning support pads (e.g., foam or gel pads) for supporting a user's wrists or arms.
One such wrist support structure is the 3M Gel-Filled Adjustable Wrist Rest, commercially available from Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, St. Paul, Minn. The 3M wrist rest has a rigid base assembly upon which is mounted an elongate wrist support pad. The pad is formed from a layer of resilient gel mounted on the base assembly and covered by a liquid impervious cover. The layer of gel in the pad helps maintain a user's wrists in a neutral position with a portion of the layer of gel conforming to the supported wrists to distribute the weight of the wrists over a wide area while affording significant motion of the wrists along the top surface of the elongate pad. The 3M Gel-Filled Wrist Rest is the subject of Kirchhoff et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,154 (which is incorporated herein by reference). Although quite effective, the 3M wrist rest is not readily portable due to its weight (the gel material is rather dense) and rigid base configuration. Further, gel material is relatively expensive and the cost of the 3M wrist rest is thus prohibitive for a large segment of the market.
Other gel-based wrist rests are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,099 to Sereboff and U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,491 to Mayn. The Sereboff '099 patent discloses a wrist support system which has a liquid containing pack that is filled with either a liquid or a gel composition. The liquid containing pack is for resiliently supporting and conforming to the contours of the palm and wrist area when a user is operating a keyboard. The liquid containing pack is releasably fastenable to a base to form a reconfigurable wrist support system.
The Mayn '491 patent discloses a gel wrist support for computer users. The wrist support has a sealed, moisture proof envelope filled with gel and covered with a soft material. The wrist support is cooled in a freezer to serve as a therapeutic gel cold pack that is applied to the user's wrists during use (to cushion, absorb heat and reduce pain and inflammation).
Prior gel filled wrist rests have the severe drawback of a lack of portability due to their excessive weight. Users of multiple computers may desire to have a separate wrist rest for the input devices at each computer terminal. Additionally, users who travel with lap-top or portable computers also may also want to use a wrist rest. Further, the gel material used in such wrist rest structures is relatively expensive. Thus, many users cannot afford to purchase such wrist rests and forego the protection these structures provide.